Tauranga school students can now safely cross Fraser St between 17th and 18th Ave, following the installation of a new signalised crossing.
Baxter Carlin, Year 8 at Tauranga Intermediate School, uses the new crossing most days and said it is great that it’s now safe and easier to cross.
”It used to be so hard to cross the road. Last year I saw a friend of mine get bumped by a car when he was trying to cross after school,” said Baxter. “It’s now more accessible and the crossing helps cars slow down.”
Classmate Isla Rudden, also Year 8, agreed.
“A lot of kids were nearly getting hit by cars because they had nowhere to cross. Now it’s much better that we can feel safe.”
Tauranga Intermediate School principal Cameron Mitchell said a safer crossing has been needed for some time, and he’s thrilled the school community now has a reliable and safe place to cross on Fraser St.
”Prior to the signalised crossing, there was nowhere safe for our students to cross Fraser Street, between Fraser Cove and 15th Ave, if they wished to access 16th, 17th or 18th Ave towards Cameron Rd.
“A few years ago, we also had a student seriously injured after they were hit by a vehicle on Fraser Street.”
The new signalised crossing on Fraser St has recently become operational, along with a crossing at the intersection of Fraser St and 13th Ave which is beneficial for students at St Mary’s Catholic School and Tauranga Boys’ College in particular.
Both crossings were funded by Tauranga City Council and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi to make it safer and easier for school children and nearby residents to cross the road, as well as help reduce vehicle speed on Fraser St.
Karen Hay, the council’s manager of safety and sustainability, said it’s reassuring that there are now safe places to cross along the busy street.
“Through our Travel Safe programme in schools, we teach students how to safely navigate crossing the road. Signalised crossings provide another level of safety for our community however it is still important for people crossing to check before stepping out, even when they get the green signal,” said Karen.
- SunLive
2 comments
Great idea - but only in Tauranga
Posted on 12-09-2024 18:07 | By Neiliies
Can the powers-that-be - ie Tauranga City Planners tell us, the public, the vehicle driver, the ratepayer, why they have gone to the expense of putting signaled pedestrian crossings here and down by 13th Ave, and not actually incorporated them into traffic lights at the actual intersections not 50 meters down the road (for the safety of drivers and pedestrians!)??? - These we all know, are dangerous intersections for vehicles, resulting in many near-misses and accidents per week, but ease of vehicular movements are disregarded completely by these ridiculous wasteful decision makers .
They didn't seem to have any problem putting in over a dozen on Cameron road!
More we need More
Posted on 14-09-2024 08:44 | By an_alias
We need them every 10 meters as no one can walk too far to get to the intersections aye
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